Media collection generation and privacy mechanisms

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods described herein relate to generation of media collections in a messaging system. The media collection may be created by the user, other users, or an entity. Example embodiments further allow users to set access criteria through privacy settings assigned to one or more media content items themselves, as well as to a media collection, such that some or all of the media collection may only be viewed by users authorized by the user sharing the media content item or media collection (e.g., only to one or more users designated by the user as a “friend”).

PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 62/591,441, filed on Nov. 28, 2017, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety

BACKGROUND

A content sharing platform may receive millions of messages from usersdesiring to share media content such as audio, images, and video betweenuser devices (e.g., mobile devices, personal computers, etc.). The mediacontent of these messages may be associated with a common geolocation, acommon time period, a common event, and so forth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network,according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating data which may be stored in adatabase of a messaging server system, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message,according to some embodiments, generated by a messaging clientapplication for communication.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example media content item, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example graphical user interface to displayprivacy options, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in theform of a computer system, within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods described herein relate to generation of mediacollections in a messaging system. Example embodiments allow users togenerate one or more media content items to be included in a mediacollection. The media collection may be created by the user, otherusers, or an entity (e.g., associated with a messaging system, anorganization, and event, and so forth). Example embodiments furtherallow users to share the media collection with other users. For example,the user may make some or all of a media collection public such thatanyone using the messaging system may view the media collection. Exampleembodiments further allow users to set access criteria through privacysettings assigned to one or more media content items themselves, as wellas to a media collection, such that some or all of the media collectionmay only be viewed by users authorized by the user sharing the mediacontent item or media collection (e.g., only to one or more usersdesignated by the user as a “friend”).

A user of a client device may generate or configure a media content itemand in response, a system may present a selection of privacy optionsthat may be assigned to the media content item. For example, the privacyoptions may comprise a selection of access criteria required to receiveaccess to the media content item. Such access criteria may includegeo-location criteria, temporal criteria, as well as user profileinformation.

The user can then add the media content item to one or more mediacollections. A media collection (e.g., gallery) may be a collection ofphotos and videos curated by one or more users, which may be viewed byother users. In some embodiments, in response to generating the mediacontent item, the system may present to the user a set of mediacollections that the user may add the media content item to. In responseto receiving a selection of a media collection from among the set ofmedia collections, the system may add the media content item to acollection of photos or videos associated with the selected mediacollection, based on the access criteria of the privacy option assignedto the media content item. Thus, two different users that access thesame media collection may be presented with different collections ofphotos or videos (i.e., different portions of the same media collection)based on access criteria assigned to one or more of the media contentitems that comprise the media collection.

Certain users with prominent public personas may desire to retain alevel of privacy in order to continue using a social network platformfor personal friends and family (e.g., bidirectional connections). Asystem to enable such users to set access criteria to portions of amedia collections, or specific media content items would therefore bedesirable. As an illustrative example, a prominent user with a largefollowing of users may be presented with a set of privacy options inresponse to generating a media content item. The user may select aprivacy option from among the set of privacy options, and in response, acollection management system assigns the selected privacy option to themedia content item. The selected privacy option may for example specifythat only bidirectional connections (i.e., friends of the user) mayreceive access to the media content item.

The user may then add the media content item to a new or existing mediacollection, wherein the media collection comprises a collection ofphotos and videos curated by the user (or one or more users that includethe user). While most of the media collection itself may be accessibleto anyone that requests to view the media collection, portions of themedia content item itself may be filtered out of the media collectionfor everyone that does not satisfy the access criteria defined by theprivacy option assigned to the media content item. A prominent user cantherefore remain active in their own private circle of connectionswithout having to publicly post or share all content.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system 100 (e.g., amessaging system) for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associatedcontent) over a network. The networked system 300 includes multipleclient devices 110, each of which hosts a number of client applications114. Each client application 114 is communicatively coupled to otherinstances of the client application 114 and a server system 308 via anetwork 104.

The client device 110 may comprise, but is not limited to, a mobilephone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, tablet, ultrabook, netbook, laptop, multi-processor system,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic system, gameconsole, set-top box, computer in a vehicle, wearable device, or anyother communication device that a user may utilize to access thenetworked system 100. In some embodiments, the client device 110 maycomprise a display module (not shown) to display information (e.g., inthe form of user interfaces). In further embodiments, the client device110 may comprise one or more of touch screens, accelerometers,gyroscopes, cameras, microphones, global positioning system (GPS)devices, and so forth.

The client device 110 may be a device of a user that is used to createmedia content items such as video, images (e.g., photographs), andaudio, and to send and receive messages containing such media contentitems, text, and so forth, to and from other users. The client device110 may be a device of a user that is used to create and edit mediaoverlays.

One or more users may be a person, a machine, or other means ofinteracting with the client device 110. In example embodiments, the usermay not be part of the system 100, but may interact with the system 100via the client device 110 or other means. For instance, the user mayprovide input (e.g., touch screen input or alphanumeric input) to theclient device 110, and the input may be communicated to other entitiesin the system 100 (e.g., third party servers, server system 108, etc.)via a network 104. In this instance, the other entities in the system100, in response to receiving the input from the user, may communicateinformation to the client device 110 via the network 104 to be presentedto the user. In this way, the user may interact with the variousentities in the system 100 using the client device 110.

The system 100 may further include a network 104. One or more portionsof the network 104 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion ofthe public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a WI-FI network, a WiMax network, anothertype of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.

The client device 110 may access the various data and applicationsprovided by other entities in the system 100 via a web client 112 (e.g.,a browser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed byMicrosoft® Corporation of Redmond, Wash. State) or one or more clientapplications 114. The client device 110 may include one or more clientapplications 114 (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limitedto, a web browser, a messaging application, an electronic mail (email)application, an e-commerce site application, a mapping or locationapplication, a media overlay application, an interactive messagingapplication, and the like.

In some embodiments, one or more client applications 114 may be includedin a given one of the client devices 110, and configured to locallyprovide the user interface and at least some of the functionalities,with the client application 114 configured to communicate with otherentities in the system 100 (e.g., third party servers, server system108, etc.), on an as-needed basis, for data and/or processingcapabilities not locally available (e.g., to process user queries, toauthenticate a user, to verify a method of payment, etc.). Conversely,one or more client applications 114 may not be included in the clientdevice 110, and then the client device 110 may use its web browser toaccess the one or more applications hosted on other entities in thesystem 100 (e.g., third party servers, server system 108, etc.).

In one example, a client application 114 may be a messaging applicationthat allows a user to take a photograph or video, add a caption orotherwise edit the photograph or video, and then send the photograph orvideo (e.g., media content item) to another user. The media content itemmay be sent (e.g., as a message) directly to one or more other users ormay be shared with other users via a media collection. For example, themedia content item may be added or included in a media collection andthen shared with everyone in the messaging system or with only one ormore specific users.

In one example, the message (e.g., media content item) may be ephemeraland be removed from a receiving user device after viewing or after apredetermined amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds, 24 hours, etc.). Anephemeral message refers to a message that is accessible for atime-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, avideo, and other such content that may be stitched together inaccordance with embodiments described herein. The access time for theephemeral message may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, theaccess time may be a default setting or a setting specified by therecipient. Regardless of the setting technique, the message istransitory.

The messaging application may further allow a user to create a mediacollection, as explained above. A media collection (e.g., gallery) maybe a collection of photos and videos which may be viewed by other users“following” the user's media collection (e.g., subscribed to view andreceive updates in the user's media collection). In one example, themedia collection may also be ephemeral (e.g., lasting 24 hours, lastingfor a duration of an event (e.g., during a music concert, sportingevent, etc.), or lasting another predetermined time).

An ephemeral message may be associated with a message durationparameter, the value of which determines an amount of time that theephemeral message will be displayed to a receiving user of the ephemeralmessage by the client application 114. The ephemeral message may befurther associated with a message receiver identifier and a messagetimer. The message timer may be responsible for determining the amountof time the ephemeral message is shown to a particular receiving useridentified by the message receiver identifier. For example, theephemeral message may only be shown to the relevant receiving user for atime period determined by the value of the message duration parameter.

In another example, the messaging application may allow a user to storephotographs and videos and create a media collection that is notephemeral and that can be sent to other users. For example, a user mayassemble photographs and videos from a recent vacation to share withfriends and family.

The server system 108 may provide server-side functionality via thenetwork 104 (e.g., the Internet or a wide area network (WAN)) to one ormore client devices 110 and/or one or more third party servers (notshown). The server system 108 may include an application programminginterface (API) server 102, an application server 112, a messagingapplication server 116, a media content processing system 118, and asocial network system 122, which may each be communicatively coupledwith each other and with one or more data storage(s), such asdatabase(s) 120.

The server system 108 may be a cloud computing environment, according tosome example embodiments. The server system 108, and any serversassociated with the server system 108, may be associated with acloud-based application, in one example embodiment.

The one or more database(s) 120 may be storage devices that storeinformation such as untreated media content, original media content fromusers (e.g., high-quality media content), processed media content (e.g.,media content that is formatted for sharing with client devices 110 andviewing on client devices 110), context data related to a media contentitem, context data related to a user device (e.g., computing or clientdevice 110), media overlays, media overlay smart widgets or smartelements, user data, user device information, media content (e.g., videoand images), media content data (e.g., data associated with video andimages), computing device context data, privacy setting information, andso forth. The one or more databases 120 may further store informationrelated to third party servers, third party applications, client devices110, client applications 114, users, and so forth.

The one or more database(s) 120 may include cloud-based storage externalto the server system 308 (e.g., hosted by one or more third-partyentities external to the server system 308). While the storage devicesare shown as database(s) 120, it is to be understood that the system 100may access and store data in storage devices such as databases 120, blobstorages, and other types of storage methods.

The system 100 may further include one or more third party servers (notshown). The one or more third party servers may include one or morethird party application(s). The one or more third party application(s),executing on the third party server(s), may interact with the serversystem 108 via API server 102 via a programmatic interface provided bythe API server 102. For example, one or more of the third partyapplications may request and utilize information from the server system108 via the API server 102 to support one or more features or functionson a website hosted by the third party or an application hosted by thethird party. The third party website or application, for example, mayprovide functionality that is supported by relevant functionality anddata in the server system 108.

Accordingly, each client application 114 is able to communicate andexchange data with other client applications 114 and with the serversystem 108 via the network 104. The data exchanged between clientapplications 114, and between a client application 114 and the serversystem 108, includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) aswell as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video, or other multimediadata).

The server system 108 provides server-side functionality via the network104 to a particular client application 114. While certain functions ofthe system 100 are described herein as being performed by either aclient application 114 or by the server system 108, it will beappreciated that the location of certain functionality either within theclient application 114 or within the server system 108 is a designchoice. For example, it may be technically preferable to initiallydeploy certain technology and functionality within the server system108, but to later migrate this technology and functionality to theclient application 114 where a client device 110 has a sufficientprocessing capacity.

The server system 108 supports various services and operations that areprovided to the client application 114. Such operations includetransmitting data to, receiving data from, and processing data generatedby the client application 114. This data may include message content,client device information, geolocation information, media annotation andoverlays, message content persistence conditions, social networkinformation, live event information, date and time stamps, media content(e.g., video and images), and media content data (e.g., data associatedwith video and images), as examples. Data exchanges within the networkedsystem 100 are invoked and controlled through functions available viauser interfaces (UIs) of the client application 114.

In the server system 108, the API server 110 is coupled to, and providesa programmatic interface to, the application server 112. The applicationserver 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server 124, whichfacilitates access to the one or more database(s) 120 in which is storeddata associated with messages processed by the application server 112.

The API server 102 receives and transmits message data (e.g., commandsand message payloads) between the client device 110 and the applicationserver 112. Specifically, the API server 102 provides a set ofinterfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queriedby the client application 114 in order to invoke functionality of theapplication server 112. The API server 102 exposes various functionssupported by the application server 112, including account registration;login functionality; the sending of messages, via the application server112, from a particular client application 114 to another clientapplication 114; the sending of media files (e.g., images or video) froma client application 114 to the messaging application server 116, forpossible access by another client application 114; the setting of acollection of media data (e.g., a gallery, story, message collection, ormedia collection); the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of aclient device 110; the retrieval of such collections; the retrieval ofmessages and content; the adding of friends to and deletion of friendsfrom a social graph; the location of friends within a social graph;opening an application event (e.g., relating to the client application114); the retrieval of privacy setting associated with a media contentitem or media collection, and so forth.

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including the messaging application server 116, the mediacontent processing system 118, and the social network system 122. Themessaging application server 116 implements a number of messageprocessing technologies and functions, particularly related to theaggregation and other processing of content (e.g., textual andmultimedia content) included in messages received from multipleinstances of the client application 114. The text and media content frommultiple sources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g.,called stories, galleries, or media collections). These collections arethen made available, by the messaging application server 116, to theclient application 114. Other processor- and memory-intensive processingof data may also be performed server-side by the messaging applicationserver 116, in view of the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes the media content processingsystem 118, which is dedicated to performing various media contentprocessing operations, typically with respect to images or videoreceived within the payload of a message at the messaging applicationserver 116. The media content processing system 118 may access one ormore data storages (e.g., database(s) 120) to retrieve stored data touse in processing media content and to store results of processed mediacontent.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions and services, and makes these functions and services availableto the messaging application server 116. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 (depicted in FIG.3) within the database 120. Examples of functions and services supportedby the social network system 122 include the identification of otherusers of the networked system 100 with whom a particular user hasrelationships or whom the particular user is “following,” and also theidentification of other entities and interests of a particular user.

The messaging application server 116 may be responsible for generationand delivery of messages between users of client devices 110. Themessaging application server 116 may utilize any one of a number ofmessage delivery networks and platforms to deliver messages to users.For example, the messaging application server 116 may deliver messagesusing electronic mail (email), instant message (IM), Short MessageService (SMS), text, facsimile, or voice (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP))messages via wired networks (e.g., the Internet), plain old telephoneservice (POTS), or wireless networks (e.g., mobile, cellular, WIFI, LongTerm Evolution (LTE), or Bluetooth).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating further details regarding thesystem 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically, the system200 is shown to comprise the messaging client application 114 and theapplication server 112, which in turn embody a number of subsystems,namely an ephemeral timer system 202, a collection management system204, and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 114 and the messaging application server 116. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message, orcollection of messages (e.g., otherwise referred to herein as mediacollections, galleries, message collections, stories, and the like),selectively display and enable access to messages and associated contentvia the messaging client application 114.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image, video, and audiodata), otherwise referred to herein as “media collections.” In someexamples, a collection of content (e.g., messages, including images,video, text, and audio) may be organized into an “event gallery” or an“event story.” Such a collection may be made available for a specifiedtime period, such as the duration of an event to which the contentrelates. For example, content relating to a music concert may be madeavailable as a “Story” for the duration of that music concert. Thecollection management system 204 may also be responsible for publishingan icon that provides notification of the existence of a particularcollection to the user interface of the messaging client application114.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation (e.g., money, non-money credits or pointsassociated with the messaging system or a third party reward system,travel miles, access to artwork or specialized lenses, etc.) may be paidto a user for inclusion of user-generated content into a collection. Insuch cases, the curation interface 208 operates to automatically makepayments to such users for the use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the networked system 100. In one example, the annotationsystem 206 operatively supplies a media overlay (e.g., a filter or mediaaugmentation) to the messaging client application 114 based on ageolocation of the client device 110. In another example, the annotationsystem 206 operatively supplies a media overlay to the messaging clientapplication 114 based on other information, such as social networkinformation of the user of the client device 110. A media overlay mayinclude audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audioand visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, and soundeffects. An example of a visual effect includes color overlaying. Theaudio and visual content or the visual effects can be applied to a mediacontent item (e.g., a photo) at the client device 110. For example, themedia overlay includes text that can be overlaid on top of a photographtaken by the client device 110. In another example, the media overlayincludes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice Beach), aname of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., BeachCoffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 uses thegeolocation of the client device 110 to identify a media overlay thatincludes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device110. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with themerchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 124.

The annotation system 206 may further enable a user to interact with aninteractive message, such as by adding one or more media content itemsto the interactive message, as described in further detail below. In oneexample embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides a publicationplatform that allows a user or merchant to create an interactive messagewith a plurality of objects associated with the interactive message forwhich users may add personal content. For example, a designer may createa video of a rock band with various interactive objects for differentmembers of the band (a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitarist, etc.).The video of the rock band may be made available to users as aninteractive message.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay is to be offered to other users. The annotationsystem 206 generates a media overlay that includes the uploaded contentand associates the uploaded content with the selected geolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a biddingprocess. For example, the annotation system 2406 associates the mediaoverlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocationfor a predefined amount of time.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram 300 illustrating data which may be storedin the database(s) 120 of the server system 108, according to certainexample embodiments. While the content of the database 120 is shown tocomprise a number of tables, it will be appreciated that the data couldbe stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as an object-orienteddatabase).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table314. An entity table 302 stores entity data, including an entity graph304. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table302 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events, etc. Regardless of type, any entity regarding which theserver system 108 stores data may be a recognized entity. Each entity isprovided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity type identifier(not shown).

The entity graph 304 furthermore stores information regardingrelationships and associations between entities. Such relationships maybe social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation ororganization), interested-based, or activity-based, merely for example.

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form ofmedia overlays or filters, in an annotation table 312. Annotation datamay also be referred to herein as “creative tools” or “interactivefeatures.” Annotation data may comprise predefined interactive messagesto be provided to users.

Media overlays or filters, for which data is stored within theannotation table 312, are associated with and applied to videos (forwhich data is stored in a video table 310) and/or images (for which datais stored in an image table 308). Filters, in one example, are overlaysthat are displayed as overlaid on an image or video during presentationto a recipient user. Filters may be of various types, includinguser-selected filters from a gallery of filters presented to a sendinguser by the messaging client application 114 when the sending user iscomposing a message. Other types of filters include geolocation filters(also known as geo-filters), which may be presented to a sending userbased on geographic location. For example, geolocation filters specificto a neighborhood or special location may be presented within a userinterface by the messaging client application 114, based on geolocationinformation determined by a GPS unit of the client device 110. Anothertype of filter is a data filter, which may be selectively presented to asending user by the messaging client application 114, based on otherinputs or information gathered by the client device 110 during themessage creation process. Examples of data filters include a currenttemperature at a specific location, a current speed at which a sendinguser is traveling, a battery life for a client device 110, or thecurrent time.

Other annotation data that may be stored within the annotation table 312is so-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 310 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 314. Similarly, the image table 308 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe message table 314. The entity table 302 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 312 with various images and videosstored in the image table 308 and the video table 310.

A story table 306 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story, gallery, or media collection). The creationof a particular collection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g.,any user for whom a record is maintained in the entity table 302). Auser may create a “personal story” in the form of a collection ofcontent that has been created and sent/broadcast by that user. To thisend, the user interface of the messaging client application 114 mayinclude an icon that is user-selectable to enable a sending user to addspecific content to his or her personal story.

A media or message collection may also constitute a “live story,” whichis a collection of content from multiple users that is created manually,automatically, or using a combination of manual and automatictechniques. For example, a “live story” may constitute a curated streamof user-submitted content from various locations and events. Users whoseclient devices 110 have location services enabled and are at a commonevent location at a particular time may, for example, be presented withan option, via a user interface of the messaging client application 114,to contribute content to a particular live story. The live story may beidentified to the user by the messaging client application 114, based onhis or her location. The end result is a “live story” told from acommunity perspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story,”which enables a user whose client device 110 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 400,according to some embodiments, generated by a client application 114 forcommunication to a further client application 114 or the messagingapplication server 116. The content of a particular message 400 is usedto populate the message table 314 stored within the database 120,accessible by the messaging application server 116. Similarly, thecontent of a message 300 is stored in memory as “in-transit” or“in-flight” data of the client device 110 or the application server 112.

The message 400 is shown to include the following components:

-   -   A message identifier 402: a unique identifier that identifies        the message 400.    -   A message text payload 404: text, to be generated by a user via        a user interface of the client device 110 and that is included        in the message 400.    -   A message image payload 406: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 110 or retrieved from memory of a        client device 110, and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message video payload 408: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 110 and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message audio payload 410: audio data, captured by a        microphone or retrieved from the memory component of the client        device 110, and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message annotations 412: annotation data (e.g., media overlays        such as filters, stickers, or other enhancements) that        represents annotations to be applied to the message image        payload 406, message video payload 408, or message audio payload        410 of the message 400.    -   A message duration parameter 414: a parameter value indicating,        in seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        400 (e.g., the message image payload 406, message video payload        408, message audio payload 410) is to be presented or made        accessible to a user via the messaging client application 114.    -   A message geolocation parameter 416: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message 400. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 416 values may be included in the payload, each of        these parameter values being associated with respect to content        items included in the content (e.g., a specific image within the        message image payload 406, or a specific video in the message        video payload 408).    -   A message story identifier 418: identifier values identifying        one or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a        particular content item in the message image payload 406 of the        message 400 is associated. For example, multiple images within        the message image payload 406 may each be associated with        multiple content collections using identifier values.    -   A message tag 420: each message 400 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 406        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 420 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   A message sender identifier 422: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 110 on        which the message 400 was generated and from which the message        400 was sent.    -   A message receiver identifier 424: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 110 to        which the message 400 is addressed.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of the message 400may be pointers to locations in tables within which content data valuesare stored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 406may be a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table308. Similarly, values within the message video payload 408 may point todata stored within a video table 310, values stored within the messageannotations 412 may point to data stored in an annotation table 312,values stored within the message story identifier 418 may point to datastored in a story table 306, and values stored within the message senderidentifier 422 and the message receiver identifier 424 may point to userrecords stored within an entity table 302.

As described above, example embodiments allow users to generate one ormore media content items to be included in a media collection. The mediacollection may be created by the user, other users, or an entity (e.g.,associated with a messaging system, an organization, and event, and soforth). Example embodiments further allow users to share the mediacollection with other users. For example, the user may make the mediacollection public such that anyone using the messaging system may viewthe media collection. Example embodiments further allow users to setprivacy settings such that the media collection may only be viewed byusers authorized by the user sharing the media collection (e.g., only toone or more users designated by the user as a “friend”).

For example, a user may capture an image or video on a computing device(e.g., client device 110). The user may further user creative tools toedit the image or video (e.g., to add text, audio, media overlays,etc.). FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a media content item 500comprising an image 505 captured by a user and text 510 (i.e., “In SFnow!!”) added to the image 505. The computing device generates the mediacontent item 500 based on the image or video 505 captured by the userand any creative tools used to edit the captured image or video 505.

The user may want to send the media content item 500 (e.g., as amessage) to one or more other users directly, or add the media contentitem 500 to an existing media collection or create a new mediacollection for the media content item. The user may indicate that hewishes to send the media content item 500 and/or add the media contentitem 500 to the media collection by interacting (e.g., via touch screen,mouse, pointing device, etc.) a menu item or button on a graphical userinterface displayed on a display of the computing device, via a buttonor other mechanism of the computing device, or other means.

The computing device receives the indication from the user to includethe media content item 500 in a media collection and FIG. 6 illustratesan example graphical user interface 600 to display privacy options 605that may be assigned to the media content item 505 that may be displayedby the computing device to the user to select users or media collections610 (e.g., “Stories”) to which to send or post the media content item.

Example embodiments include privacy options allow the user to specifywhether he would like to add the media content item to a mediacollection that is available to everyone (e.g., everyone in themessaging system or everyone that has subscribed to the media collectionto view the media collection and any updates to the media collection) orto add the media content item to a media collection that is onlyavailable to specific or authorized users (e.g., users designated as a“friend”). The computing device may provide the plurality of selectionsfor privacy options for the media collection to the user. For example,the computing device may display the GUI 600 shown in FIG. 6 so that auser may select “My Story” to add the media content item to a new orexisting media collection that may be viewed by everyone, or select “MyStory Friends Only” to add the media content item to a new or existingmedia collection that may only be viewed by specific or authorized users(e.g., users authorized by the user to view the media collection).

The user may select the privacy option for the media collection via theGUI 600 or other means and upon receiving the selection, the computingdevice adds the media content item to the media collection according tothe selection of privacy options by the user. In this way, the computingdevice causes the media collection to be accessible by one or morecomputing devices associated with other users according to a privacypolicy associate with the selection of the one of the privacy optionsfor the media collections.

For example, if the user selects the “My Story Friends Only” option inthe GUI 600, the computing device causes the media content item to beposted to this media collection and only the user's friends will be ableto view this media collection. If the user selects “My Story” option inthe GUI 600, the computing device causes the media content item to beposted to the media collection and everyone will be able to view thismedia collection. In one example embodiment, a user may only be able toselect either “My Story” or “My Story Friends Only” and not both. Forexample, if the user selects first one and then taps the other, thefirst one will become un-selected.

Either a new media collection may be created for the media content itemor the media content item may be added to an existing media collection.The existing media collection comprises a plurality of media contentitems created by the user.

Example embodiments allow users, such as influencers and celebrities, touse the messaging system with their closest friends while also trying toamass a following. Thus, example embodiments do not force a user tochoose between building a following and being their true self. Also,this allows users such as celebrities to continue to add to mediacollections shared with their closest friends. Friends (or specific orauthorized users) may be users connected with a bidirectionalfriendship. Example embodiments allow a user the option to send a mediacontent item to a media collection for fiends only (e.g., bidirectionalrelationship), select friends, or everyone (e.g., everyone in themessaging system).

Example embodiments allow for de-duplication of media content items evenif the media content items are sent to both a friends only mediacollection and an everyone media collection. For example, a user maysend a media content item to a friends only media collection and thenlater send the same media content item to an everyone story, but theview of the media collection would only show the media content item to auser once.

Example embodiments allow a user to create a custom group of users towhich to share media collections, other than just a friends only mediacollection and an everyone media collection. Moreover, a user may set aglobal setting in the messaging application/system for sharing mediacollections to be shared with everyone. Even though such a setting hasbeen set by a user, the setting may be overridden if the user selects toadd the media content item to a friends only media collection.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method 700 for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments. Operations of the method 700 may be performed by thecollection management system 204 as seen in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 7,the method 700 includes one or more operations 702, 704, 706, 708 and710.

At operation 702, the collection management system 204 receives a mediacontent item that comprises media data, such as the media content item500 of FIG. 5. For example, a user of a client device 110 may generateand edit the media content item 500, or access and retrieve the mediacontent item 500 from a third party source.

At operation 704, the collection management system 204 receives anindication to include the media content item (e.g., the media contentitem 500) in a media collection associated with a user (e.g., a user ofthe client device 110). For example, in response to generating the mediacontent item 500, the user may be presented with an option to includethe media content item in a new or existing media collection.

At operation 706, the collection management system 204 assigns a privacyoption to the media content item, wherein the privacy option definesaccess criteria required to view or otherwise access to the mediacontent item. The access criteria may for example include geo-locationcriteria, temporal criteria, as well as user profile information. Forexample, a privacy option may restrict access to a media content item tofriends (or specific or authorized users) with a bidirectionalfriendship to the user.

At operation 708, the collection management system 204 adds the mediacontent item to a media collection according to the privacy optionassigned to the media content item.

At operation 710, the collection management system 204 causes the mediacontent item in the media collection to be accessible by one or moreclient devices based on the privacy option. For example, in someembodiments, in response to adding the media content item to the mediacollection according to the privacy option assigned to the media contentitem, the collection management system 204 may cause the social networksystem 122 to present a notification at one or more client devices thathave access to the media content item based on the privacy option.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method 800 for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments. Operations of the method 800 may be performed by thecollection management system 204 as a precursor or subroutine ofoperation 704 and 706 of the method 700 of FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 8,the method 800 includes one or more operations 802, 804, and 806.

At operation 802, the collection management system 204 causes display ofa plurality of privacy options at the client device 110 in response toreceiving the indication to include the media content item in the mediacollection associated with the user profile, as in operation 704 of themethod 700. For example, FIG. 6 provides an illustration of a GUI 600that includes privacy options 605.

At operation 804, the collection management system 204 receives aselection of a privacy option to be assigned to the media content itemfrom among the plurality of privacy options. In response to receivingthe selection of the privacy options from among the plurality of privacyoptions, at operation 806 the collection management system 204 assignsthe privacy option to the media content item.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method 900 for assigning privacyoptions to a media content item, according to certain exampleembodiments. Operations of the method 900 may be performed by thecollection management system 204 as seen in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 9,the method 900 includes one or more operations 902, 904, and 906.

At operation 902, the collection management system 204 receives arequest to display the media collection from a second client device 110,wherein the request includes at least a request attribute. For example,the request attribute may be geo-location data, temporal data, or userprofile information.

At operation 904, the collection management system 204 filters the mediacontent item from the media collection based on the request attributeand the access criteria of the privacy option assigned to the mediacontent item.

At operation 906, the collection management system 204 presents thefiltered media collection at the second client device 110.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram 1000 illustrating a software architecture1002, which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. For example, in various embodiments, client devices 110, serversystems 102, 112, 116, 118, 122, and 124 may be implemented using someor all of the elements of the software architecture 1002. FIG. 10 ismerely a non-limiting example of a software architecture, and it will beappreciated that many other architectures can be implemented tofacilitate the functionality described herein. In various embodiments,the software architecture 1002 is implemented by hardware such asmachine 1100 of FIG. 11 that includes processors 1110, memory 1130, andI/O components 1150. In this example, the software architecture 1002 canbe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 1002includes layers such as an operating system 1004, libraries 1006,frameworks 1008, and applications 1010. Operationally, the applications1010 invoke API calls 1012 through the software stack and receivemessages 1014 in response to the API calls 1012, consistent with someembodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 1004 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 1004includes, for example, a kernel 1020, services 1022, and drivers 1024.The kernel 1020 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware andthe other software layers, consistent with some embodiments. Forexample, the kernel 1020 provides memory management, processormanagement (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, andsecurity settings, among other functionality. The services 1022 canprovide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers1024 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware, according to some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 1024can include display drivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH®Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 1006 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 1010. The libraries 1006 caninclude system libraries 1030 (e.g., C standard library) that canprovide functions such as memory allocation functions, stringmanipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition,the libraries 1006 can include API libraries 1032 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4),Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts GroupLayer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or PortableNetwork Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL frameworkused to render in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D)graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite toprovide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 1006 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 1034to provide many other APIs to the applications 1010.

The frameworks 1008 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 1010, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 1008 provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks 1008 can provide a broad spectrumof other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 1010, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system 1004 or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 1010 include a homeapplication 1050, a contacts application 1052, a browser application1054, a book reader application 1056, a location application 1058, amedia application 1060, a messaging application 1062, a game application1064, and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third partyapplication 1066. According to some embodiments, the applications 1010are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create one or more of theapplications 1010, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++)or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In aspecific example, the third party application 1066 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In thisexample, the third party application 1066 can invoke the API calls 1012provided by the operating system 1004 to facilitate functionalitydescribed herein.

Some embodiments may particularly include a media collection generationapplication 1067. In certain embodiments, this may be a standaloneapplication that operates to manage communications with a server systemsuch as third party servers or server system 108. In other embodiments,this functionality may be integrated media collection generationapplication 1067 may request and display various data related tomessaging, media content, media collections, media overlays, and soforth, and may provide the capability for a user 106 to input datarelated to the system via a touch interface, keyboard, or using a cameradevice of machine 1100, communication with a server system via I/Ocomponents 1150, and receipt and storage of object data in memory 1130.Presentation of information and user inputs associated with theinformation may be managed by the media collection generationapplication 1067 using different frameworks 1008, library 1006 elements,or operating system 1004 elements operating on a machine 1100.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1100,according to some embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 11 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1100 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1116 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 1100 to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein can be executed. Inalternative embodiments, the machine 1100 operates as a standalonedevice or can be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In anetworked deployment, the machine 1100 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine 102, 112, 116, 118, 122, 124, and the like, or a clientdevice 110 in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machinein a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 1100can comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a clientcomputer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a netbook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), anentertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, amobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart homedevice (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance,a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machinecapable of executing the instructions 1116, sequentially or otherwise,that specify actions to be taken by the machine 1100. Further, whileonly a single machine 1100 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall alsobe taken to include a collection of machines 1100 that individually orjointly execute the instructions 1116 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

In various embodiments, the machine 1100 comprises processors 1110,memory 1130, and I/O components 1150, which can be configured tocommunicate with each other via a bus 1102. In an example embodiment,the processors 1110 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor,or any suitable combination thereof) include, for example, a processor1112 and a processor 1114 that may execute the instructions 1116. Theterm “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 1110 thatmay comprise two or more independent processors 1112, 1114 (alsoreferred to as “cores”) that can execute instructions 1116contemporaneously. Although FIG. 11 shows multiple processors 1110, themachine 1100 may include a single processor 1110 with a single core, asingle processor 1110 with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor1110), multiple processors 1112, 1114 with a single core, multipleprocessors 1112, 1114 with multiple cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 1130 comprises a main memory 1132, a static memory 1134, anda storage unit 1136 accessible to the processors 1110 via the bus 1102,according to some embodiments. The storage unit 1136 can include amachine-readable medium 1118 on which are stored the instructions 1116embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 1116 can also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1132, within the static memory 1134,within at least one of the processors 1110 (e.g., within the processor'scache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during executionthereof by the machine 1100. Accordingly, in various embodiments, themain memory 1132, the static memory 1134, and the processors 1110 areconsidered machine-readable media 1118.

As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium1118 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While themachine-readable medium 1118 is shown, in an example embodiment, to be asingle medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken toinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storethe instructions 1116. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also betaken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that iscapable of storing instructions (e.g., instructions 1116) for executionby a machine (e.g., machine 1100), such that the instructions 1116, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the machine 1100 (e.g., processors1110), cause the machine 1100 to perform any one or more of themethodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium”refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based”storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storageapparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, one or more datarepositories in the form of a solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory),an optical medium, a magnetic medium, other non-volatile memory (e.g.,erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)), or any suitablecombination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” specificallyexcludes non-statutory signals per se.

The I/O components 1150 include a wide variety of components to receiveinput, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchangeinformation, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will beappreciated that the I/O components 1150 can include many othercomponents that are not shown in FIG. 11. The I/O components 1150 aregrouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the followingdiscussion, and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various exampleembodiments, the I/O components 1150 include output components 1152 andinput components 1154. The output components 1152 include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 1154 include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and force of touches or touch gestures, orother tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 1150 includebiometric components 1156, motion components 1158, environmentalcomponents 1160, or position components 1162, among a wide array ofother components. For example, the biometric components 1156 includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1158 includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 1160 include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensor components(e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors, gas detection sensors todetect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measurepollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provideindications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surroundingphysical environment. The position components 1162 include locationsensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receivercomponent), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometersthat detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication can be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1150 may include communication components 1164operable to couple the machine 1100 to a network 1180 or devices 1170via a coupling 1182 and a coupling 1172, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1164 include a network interface component oranother suitable device to interface with the network 1180. In furtherexamples, communication components 1164 include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, near field communication (NFC) components, BLUETOOTH®components (e.g., BLUETOOTH® Low Energy), WI-FI® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1170 may be another machine 1100 or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, in some embodiments, the communication components 1164 detectidentifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. Forexample, the communication components 1164 include radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detectioncomponents, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detecta one-dimensional bar codes such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, multi-dimensional bar codes such as a Quick Response (QR) code,Aztec Code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code,Uniform Commercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar codes,and other optical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g.,microphones to identify tagged audio signals), or any suitablecombination thereof. In addition, a variety of information can bederived via the communication components 1164, such as location viaInternet Protocol (IP) geolocation, location via WI-FI® signaltriangulation, location via detecting a BLUETOOTH® or NFC beacon signalthat may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 1180can be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a WI-FI®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 1180 or a portion of the network 1180may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 1182 may bea Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 1182 can implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

In example embodiments, the instructions 1116 are transmitted orreceived over the network 1180 using a transmission medium via a networkinterface device (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components 1164) and utilizing any one of a number ofwell-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 1116are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling1172 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1170. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 1116for execution by the machine 1100, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 1118 is non-transitory (inother words, not having any transitory signals) in that it does notembody a propagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readablemedium 1118 “non-transitory” should not be construed to mean that themedium is incapable of movement; the medium 1118 should be considered asbeing transportable from one physical location to another. Additionally,since the machine-readable medium 1138 is tangible, the machine-readablemedium 1118 may be considered to be a machine-readable device.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, from a clientdevice associated with a first user, a media content item that comprisesmedia data; receiving an indication to include the media content item ina media collection associated with a user profile of the first user;assigning a privacy option to the media content item, the privacy optiondefining access criteria to the media content item; adding the mediacontent item to the media collection according to the privacy option;and causing the media content item in the media collection to beaccessible by one or more client devices based on the privacy optionassigned to the media content item.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe assigning the privacy option to the media content item includes:causing display of a plurality of privacy options at the client devicein response to the receiving the indication to include the media contentitem in the media collection associated with the user profile; andreceiving a selection of the privacy option from among the plurality ofprivacy options.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality ofprivacy options comprise a set of user group identifiers that identify aset of user groups, each user group among the set of user groupscomprising one or more user identifiers, and wherein the causing displayof the plurality of privacy options includes: causing display of apresentation of the set of user group identifiers.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the access criteria include one or more of the listcomprising: geo-location criteria; temporal criteria; and user profilecriteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content itemincludes one or more of the list comprising: video data; audio data; andimage data.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device is afirst client device, the one or more client devices includes a secondclient device, and the causing the media content item in the mediacollection to be accessible by the one or more client devices based onthe privacy option assigned to the media content item includes:receiving a request to display the media collection from the secondclient device, the request comprising a request attribute; filtering themedia content item from the media collection based on the requestattribute and the access criteria of the privacy option; and presentingthe filtered media collection at the second client device.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the causing the media content item in the mediacollection to be accessible by the one or more client devices based onthe privacy option assigned to the media content item includes:presenting a notification at a portion of the one or more client devicesbased on the privacy option assigned to the media content.
 8. A systemcomprising: one or more hardware processors; and a computer-readablemedium coupled with the one or more hardware processors, thecomputer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that areexecutable by the one or more hardware processors to cause the computingdevice to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a client deviceassociated with a first user, a media content item that comprises mediadata; receiving an indication to include the media content item in amedia collection associated with a user profile of the first user;assigning a privacy option to the media content item, the privacy optiondefining access criteria to the media content item; adding the mediacontent item to the media collection according to the privacy option;and causing the media content item in the media collection to beaccessible by one or more client devices based on the privacy optionassigned to the media content item.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe assigning the privacy option to the media content item includes:causing display of a plurality of privacy options at the client devicein response to the receiving the indication to include the media contentitem in the media collection associated with the user profile; andreceiving a selection of the privacy option from among the plurality ofprivacy options.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality ofprivacy options comprise a set of user group identifiers that identify aset of user groups, each user group among the set of user groupscomprising one or more user identifiers, and wherein the causing displayof the plurality of privacy options includes: causing display of apresentation of the set of user group identifiers.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the access criteria include one or more of the listcomprising: geo-location criteria; temporal criteria; and user profilecriteria.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the media content itemincludes one or more of the list comprising: video data; audio data; andimage data.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the client device is afirst client device, the one or more client devices includes a secondclient device, and the causing the media content item in the mediacollection to be accessible by the one or more client devices based onthe privacy option assigned to the media content item includes:receiving a request to display the media collection from the secondclient device, the request comprising a request attribute; filtering themedia content item from the media collection based on the requestattribute and the access criteria of the privacy option; and presentingthe filtered media collection at the second client device.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the causing the media content item in themedia collection to be accessible by the one or more client devicesbased on the privacy option assigned to the media content item includes:presenting a notification at a portion of the one or more client devicesbased on the privacy option assigned to the media content.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions storedthereon that are executable by at least one processor to cause acomputing device to perform operations comprising: receiving, from aclient device associated with a first user, a media content item thatcomprises media data; receiving an indication to include the mediacontent item in a media collection associated with a user profile of thefirst user; assigning a privacy option to the media content item, theprivacy option defining access criteria to the media content item;adding the media content item to the media collection according to theprivacy option; and causing the media content item in the mediacollection to be accessible by one or more client devices based on theprivacy option assigned to the media content item.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein theassigning the privacy option to the media content item includes: causingdisplay of a plurality of privacy options at the client device inresponse to the receiving the indication to include the media contentitem in the media collection associated with the user profile; andreceiving a selection of the privacy option from among the plurality ofprivacy options.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 16, wherein the plurality of privacy options comprise a set ofuser group identifiers that identify a set of user groups, each usergroup among the set of user groups comprising one or more useridentifiers, and wherein the causing display of the plurality of privacyoptions includes: causing display of a presentation of the set of usergroup identifiers.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein the access criteria include one or more ofthe list comprising: geo-location criteria; temporal criteria; and userprofile criteria.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein the media content item includes one or moreof the list comprising: video data; audio data; and image data.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein theclient device is a first client device, the one or more client devicesincludes a second client device, and the causing the media content itemin the media collection to be accessible by the one or more clientdevices based on the privacy option assigned to the media content itemincludes: receiving a request to display the media collection from thesecond client device, the request comprising a request attribute;filtering the media content item from the media collection based on therequest attribute and the access criteria of the privacy option; andpresenting the filtered media collection at the second client device.